Daughter of Wine

Percy

I begin to feel hopeless. I can't beat this guy. My friends are chained. Calli is hiding out above us, apparently trying to act out a scene from something.

I spot Frank, in human form, peeking out from behind a ballista, waiting. But there's nothing he can do against all these guys.

"You can take them away, if I let you." Calli's voice booms across the ship, powerful and confident. If I didn't know she was up above us, I wouldn't know where her voice is coming from. I realize she's throwing her voice. A theater trick. Dionysus is the god of theater, so she must have that skill locked away in her vast file-folder of talents.  

Chrysaor turns, looking around. "Who is that? My men searched the ship. There is no one else."

"Our captain." I grin.

Calli teleports onto the rail closest to us. She's tiny, but the way she's holding herself, grabbing a rope for support, her thyrsus in her other hand, pressed on the rail beside her like a royal staff, she looks terrifyingly powerful. Despite the rocking from the enormous waves, she holds steady. I try and hide the grin that threatens to spread across my face.

"You're the captain?" Chrysaor asks, seeming excited at the possibility of another fight. 

"I prefer Supreme Commander." Calli replies. I notice Leo seems to light up, despite his dazed confusion. "This ship belongs to my father." Calli tells the crew, which begin to chatter nervously, eyeing her thyrsus. 

"Quiet!" She commands. Her voice is so loud and powerful, the dolphin-men immediately shut up. Calli raises her hand dramatically. "The god appears only when he wishes. But he is our leader. He runs our camp for demigods. Doesn't he, Annabeth?"

Annabeth is quick. I know that's why Calli called on her. "Yes!" She nods enthusiastically. "Mr. D! The great Dionysus!"

The myth comes rushing back to me. A pirate crew captured Dionysus, and he turned them to dolphins and drove them mad. He flashed the image at me when I met him, however many years ago. 

A new ripple of uneasiness passes through the dolphin men. One drops his sword. 

"Stand fast!" Chrysaor bellows. "There is no god on this ship! They are trying to scare you!"

"You should be scared!" Calli threatens, her eyes glowing purple for a moment. She looks at the pirate crew with sympathy. "Dionysus wll be severely cranky with you for having delayed our voyage. He will punish all of us. Didn't you notice the girls falling into the wine god's madness?"

I suddenly wonder if Piper and Hazel had thrown their fits voluntarily or not. It had been much too simultaneous to be an accident. Was Calli trying to line up this exact moment? Either way, Hazel and Piper had stopped their shaking fits. They're sitting on the deck, staring at Calli, but when she glares at them pointedly, they start hamming it up again, trembling and flopping around like fish. The dolphin-men fall over themselves trying to get away from their captives. 

"Fakes!" Chrysaor roars. "Shut up, daughter of wine. Your camp director is not here. He was recalled to Olympus. This is common knowledge."

"So you admit Dionysus is our director!" Calli says. 

"He was," Chrysaor corrects. "Everyone knows that."

Calli gestures at the golden warrior like he's just betrayed himself. "You see? We are doomed. If you don't believe me, let's check the ice chest!" 

She hops down from the rail and walks over to the magical cooler. No one tries to stop her. In fact, the crew parts for her with what looks to me like respect and fear. She rummages through the ice and pulls out a silver and red can of soda. She brandishes it at the dolphin warriors as if spraying them with bug repellant.